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USA TODAY NETWORK wins three prizes in the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes announced Monday. Winning projects included coverage of the border wall and heroin reporting, as well as editorial writing about health care.

The USA TODAY NETWORK won three Pulitzer prizes Monday for in-depth coverage of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the heroin epidemic and editorial writing in health care.
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Nicole Carroll, editor in chief of USA TODAY, and Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA TODAY NETWORK and publisher of USA TODAY, celebrate as The Arizona Republic receives the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for its project "The Wall."(Photo: Andrew P. Scott, USA TODAY)

Also among the winners of the 2018 prizes was coverage by The New York Times and The New Yorker of sexual harassment claims against director Harvey Weinstein that led to the Me Too and Times Up movements.

The Wall: Unknown Stories, Unintended Consequences project, led by The Arizona Republic and involving more than 30 USA TODAY NETWORK journalists from California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, won the Pulitzer for explanatory journalism. The project used virtual reality, aerial video, 360-degree video, documentary video, photos, podcasts and interactive maps — as well as more than a dozen stories — to examine and explain President Trump's complicated border wall proposal that spans 2,000 miles.

Joab Lopez herds cattle at Atascosa Ranch in Santa Cruz County in Nogales, Ariz., on April 12, 2017. The ranch is owned by J. David Lowell. He wants the illegal crossings to stop, but isn't sure the wall is the answer. Lowell's family has had serious issues with illegal border crossers, including break-ins and shootouts involving cartels and bandits.Ten bodies were found on the ranch in 2010, and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered on his property. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Ruben Aguilar, a Juarez resident, walks up Mount Cristo Rey on April 14, 2017, with his daughter, Osiris Ortiz, who lives in El Paso. They have been making the trek for the last seven years.
Every year, the deeply religious family joins thousands who hike up the mountain to pray and celebrate their faith. The mountain is in a spot along the U.S.-Mexico border that allows pilgrims to see Mexico, El Paso and New Mexico from different vantage points. It's also a reminder of the church's teachings, which Aguilar said will be threatened if a wall is erected. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Pilgrims reach the base of the limestone cross atop Mount Cristo Rey near Sunland Park, N.M., on April 14, 2017 which is Good Friday. In earlier times, pilgrims from both sides of the border would visit the cross. Rudy Gutierrez, El Paso Times

Rancher John Ladd walks along the border fence on his ranch, which borders with Mexico on May 5, 2017, near Naco, Ariz. He has been frustrated for years over the illegal border crossers and drug smugglers that cut through his ranch. The 16,000-acre calf/cow operation has been in the Ladd family for 121 years. Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic

Fortino Pascual Gutierrez, an employee of Del Campo, hauls tomatoes on May 3, 2017, from a greenhouse to a packing facility located near the coastal town of Altata in the state of Sinaloa, about 40 miles southwest of Culiacan, Mexico. About 80% of Del CampoÕs production of tomatoes, grape tomatoes, round tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, tomatoes on the vine and organic tomatoes as well are exported to the United States and Canada. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Border Patrol agent Robert "Lance" LeNoir with his Entry Team also known as "tunnel rats" give a tour of the Galvez tunnel on May 17, 2017, in San Diego. The Galvez tunnel was discovered in December 2009 and is about 762 feet long and about 70 feet deep. LeNoir says the tunnel was exclusively meant to smuggle narcotics into the United States. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Kurt Nagel, a marine interdiction agent patrols in a boat in San Diego Bay on May 19, 2017. Their mission is to stop terrorists, terrorist weapons, contraband and people from illegally entering the United States by maritime or even air. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

A Border Patrol Entry Team also known as "tunnel rats" give a tour into the Galvez tunnel on May 17, 2017, in San Diego. The Galvez tunnel was discovered in December 2009 and is about 762 feet long and about 70 feet deep. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Fortino Jose Natario, employee of Del Campo's cuts tomatoes on May 3, 2017, at a greenhouse located near the coastal town of Altata in the state of Sinaloa, about 40 miles southwest of Culiacan, Mexico. About 80% of Del Campo's production of tomatoes, are exported to the United States and Canada. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Scott Wilbor, the Sky Island Alliance Conservation Science Director, watches a corridor used by wildlife to move back and forth across the border on Feb. 20, 2017, from a high point near Lochiel, Ariz. Mark Henle, The Arizona Republic

Deportees walk towards Angeles Sin Fronteras, a former hotel, in the center of Mexicali, Mexico, that has been converted into a migrant shelter with 55 rooms, with four beds to a room on May 15, 2017. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

A police officer pulls down a wire ladder early in the morning on May 16, 2017, that had been used the night before by smugglers to help migrants scale the border fence in a park along the border in the center of Mexicali, Mexico, across from Calexico, Calif. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Volunteers from Arizona Border Recon patrol at night with night vision for any drug traffickers and illegal migrant border crossers coming into U.S. on June 15, 2017, near Sasabe, Ariz. The group is made up mostly of former U.S. military personnel and law enforcement officers. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Jesus Cortez, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checks a driver's paperwork as he brings produce imported from Mexico to the Mariposa Land Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., on Aug. 9, 2017. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Gene Hernandez, a Medical Legal Death Investigator Supervisor, shows unidentified remains of a John Doe at Pima County Medical Examiner Office in Tucson on June 26, 2017. When migrants die in the Arizona desert, their body or remains are brought here for DNA identification. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Roger Paiz Leyton, 28, from Leon, Nicaragua, was apprehended July 6, 2017, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge west of Ajo, Ariz. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Travis Hairston, a Field Agent at Pima County Medical Examiner office in Tucson gets his gear ready on June 26, 2017, to head northwest of Tucson to pick up the remains of a male migrant found by the rancher. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

A volunteer with the humanitarian group, No More Deaths, takes a brief rest on June 23, 2017, after a search for remains of migrants who died in remote rugged terrain while crossing the U.S. border in triple-digit temperatures through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Ajo, Ariz. Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Seven Days of Heroin: This Is What An Epidemic Looks Like won the prize for local reporting. The project, led by editors Amy Wilson and Chrissie Thompson with lead writers Terry DeMio and Dan Horn, involved sixty Enquirer staffers fanning out across the Cincinnati region over a week in July last year. Their resulting package, which included powerful photography and long-form video, documented the grip the opioid epidemic had on the area. The Enquirer, which is part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, last won a Pulitzer in 1991 (Jim Borgman for editorial cartooning).

In the next seven days of the heroin epidemic, at least 180 people in Greater Cincinnati will overdose and 18 will die. Babies will be born to addicted mothers. Parents will go to jail. Children will end up in foster care. This is normal now.

Des Moines Register editorial writer Andie Dominick was awarded the editorial writing prize for a selection of Iowa-focused editorials related to health care, from the governor’s privatization of Medicaid to state lawmakers’ efforts to impede fetal tissue research to how the Trump administration’s handling of the Affordable Care Act jeopardizes access to coverage. The Register, also part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, has now won 17 Pulitzers. The previous most recent winner: Mary Chind for photography in 2010.

“We are so proud of the work of the USA TODAY NETWORK’s journalists and honored by the Pulitzer Board’s recognition of their incredible feats of journalism in 2017,” said Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA TODAY NETWORK and publisher of USA TODAY. “To have five network teams be recognized by the Pulitzer Prize board is a reflection of the ambition, impact and excellence of our journalism. Most importantly, the work cited brought illumination to complex and troubling issues, helped to right wrongs, humanized some of the greatest challenges faced by our nation and served as a catalyst for vital dialogue.”

USA TODAY NETWORK finalists included: Rigged, a year-long investigation into the mistreatment of truckers based out of two major California ports, led by Naples (Fla.) Daily News reporter Brett Murphy; and Detroit Free Press editorial cartoonist Mike Thompson for his series of cartoons about the Flint water crisis.

USA TODAY NETWORK, in its second full year of operation, was a finalist last year for Dishonor Roll, a series on abusive teachers, led by Steve Reilly. It was the first time USA TODAY was recognized as a Pulitzer finalist in the category of investigative reporting.

Sharing the public service award was The New York Times and The New Yorker, whose investigations, published separately in October 2017, chronicled sexual harassment claims against Weinstein.

Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey detailed nearly three decades of reports of women accusing the powerful Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and numerous settlements. The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow spent 10 months investigating allegations of assault and sexual harassment by Weinstein. The report included interviews with 13 women who said Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between the 1990s and 2015.

Among the other winners in the 14 journalism categories:

— Breaking news reporting: ThePress-Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif., for coverage of wildfires that hit the city and Sonoma County.

— Investigative reporting: The staff of The Washington Post for its reporting on the past of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama.

— National reporting: The staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post
for coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and connections to the Trump campaign.

Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy's announcement of the winners from Columbia University's School of Journalism was broadcast on YouTube. It was the 102nd year of the prizes; newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who died in 1911, left money for the establishment of Columbia University School of Journalism and prizes in journalism, literature and the arts.